Re: Yosemite Falls Trail TR

This was my first winter backpacking trip and my first solo trip. I learned a lot and I am glad I went. I learned that when it’s dark, I’m tired and hungry and have my headlamp on low flood instead of high spot I suck at route finding! Somehow I lost the trail a ways after reaching the top of the Yosemite Falls Trail. On my way out two days later I could not figure out how I lost the trail. I guess I need to learn how to use my headlamp. In my defense, I have never tried to follow any trail I didn’t already know well in the dark. Hopefully I will be better at it next time.

The next day I had great fun hiking up to Eagle Peak. I decided that I wanted to camp next to water so I hiked back down and up Yosemite Creek until I found a place to set up camp. Lots of snow up that way, but I did manage to find a small snow free area to set up camp. I wasn’t ready to try and camp directly on snow, at least not yet.

Thanks for everyone’s input on conditions, it helped tremendously. Especially thanks to Chickon, for both the info on Rancheria (I didn’t start hiking until 3:30 pm) and the micro spikes. I saw several day hikers on the way to Eagle Peak without them. I don’t know how they managed, I certainly could not have. Both of the other backpackers I saw had them.

I was surprised how many people I saw. I must have seen at least 100 people in the trail up to the top of the trail. And there was an older couple (60s or so...) at Eagle Peak around 1:00pm (without spikes, I think). I hope I can hike as well as them when I am that age.

And no TR is complete without a few pictures:

Half dome:



A balanced rock on Eagle Peak (it looked better in person):



View from my second nights camp (there is some snow up there):



Just outside my second nights camp. Those weren’t there when I got there!



My boss’s wife wouldn’t climb the cables at half dome but she did these. I thought these were more exposed than the cables.



This little guy posed for a picture on my way down the trail:

I intended to do El Cap/Eagle Peak/Eagle Tower last Sept., but
high heat and potential lack of a water source in that area
caused the hike to be scrapped.

Those footprints are certainly ominous. Just when you're
sure you're all alone....

Thanks for the trip report.

How cold was it up there during the night and at daybreak?

.

Thanks for the lion and prints pic. Critter I met last week, about halfway up to Columbia rock:





He/she looks close there, but that's the result of the zoom lens and Photoshop. He/she was more like 100 feet away.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/2014 02:41PM by gophersnake.

There were WAY to many people when I went to have a chance of seeing a bear. That would have been cool.

It was 25 degrees at night (the second night) and around 28 at day break, As soon as the sun started going down the temp would drop almost immediately to 30, then slowly drop from there. The second night it must have been around 25 most of the night as my water bottles and hose for my filter (filter was sleeping with me ) all froze. The almost full water bottle did not completely freeze, only about half way. Certainly was my idea of cold, but this was my first time in winter.